March 10, 2014

The trapeze test and the end of gymnastics

This week Frankie will throw in the leotard for her gymnastics career. Having observed college women gymnasts more taped up and disabled than NFL stars, I'm relieved. She's become interested in skating. I've logged many hours watching her practice. Once in a while, they'd lower the two trapeze swings they had from the rafters, over the cushioned pit, and launch the kids between them. The kid would be pushed from one, let go, and catch the other that had been cast by another instructor. I thought this was a fun way to gauge her development. If the instructor sensed the child was fearful, they let them launch themselves to drop into the pit. They loved it. As they got older they almost all, some wrestling with the decision to try it, made it to the other swing, but, some did it more boldly than others. My illustration below shows the 4 major types of swing to swing transfer. I'd love to see how their choice of navigating this exercise correlates with decisions in their life.